Karen Finney: Such a fight would galvanize support for Obama among progressives, creating goodwill he might need heading in to the “fiscal cliff” and budget discussions, which could require unpopular concessions from the president.

Walter Brasch: President Obama and Secretary Clinton could not allow government action against the filmmakers, as the protestors wanted. The Founding Fathers demanded freedom of speech, the press, and religion.

Gary Corseri: There are four great reasons why the Occupy movement will not go away, why it will grow stronger as we advance into winter and next spring: It is inter-generational, international, and life-saving and essential.

Brent Budowsky: Had Gadhafi successfully executed his greatest mass murder while the world watched silently, it would have emboldened bad actors considering mass slaughters of democracy advocates throughout the Middle East.

The Body Politic

Dave Zirin: She is our Jordan. She is our Jim Brown. She is our Babe Ruth, calling his shots. She is no longer content to dodge bullets, but understands how to stop them. Serena is that rare athlete who has not only mastered her sport. She’s harnessed it.